1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to inventory management of disposable material and more specifically to systems and methods of determining an amount of disposable material in a spool.
2. Introduction
Various disposable materials, such as fabric, are carried in rolls or spools. In the fabric, textile industry, the term “bolt” is often used to refer to a unit of measurement for a variety of materials stored in a roll or spool. The length of a bolt is usually either around 40 yards or around 100 yards. However, the length may vary according to the type of material. For example, a bolt of canvas is traditionally about 39 yards. The width of a bolt is usually about 45 inches or about 60 inches. However, bolts with other widths are also available.
The spools or rolls of material (e.g., fabric, plastic, etc.) are displayed on store shelves in stores such as Wal-Mart for selling to customers. When a customer selects a specific material such as a type of fabric, and/or a specific design, a roll or spool containing the selected fabric is taken to a desk, table or counter to be measured and cut by a store clerk or store associate to a desired length as requested by a customer. The length is often measured manually by the store clerk using a ruler, a tape measure or a yardstick. Therefore, the length measurement may be subject to human error. The length error is not accounted for, captured or recorded. As a result a discrepancy may exist between an actual amount of material (e.g., a length of material) remaining in the roll, spool or bolt and the calculated amount of material remaining in the spool that is recorded and stored in the store computer database. The calculated amount of remaining material is calculated by subtracting the amount of material sold to a customer from an initial amount or previously recorded amount of material in the roll. Therefore, if the store clerk makes an error when cutting the material or makes an error when recording or reporting the amount of material cut, this error will be reflected in the remaining amount of material.
In addition, there may be a discrepancy in the initial amount of material in the roll. This error may originate from the manufacturer or wholesaler of the material. Indeed, there are situations where the manufacturer may specify that a roll or spool has X amount (or length) of material but in practice the roll actually has Y amount of material. The difference between the amount X of material and the amount Y of material is another type of error that may be compounded with the previous store clerk measurement or recording error. The error originating from the manufacturer and/or the error originating from the store clerk may lead to an incorrect amount of remaining material in a spool or roll being recorded. This can create various logistical problems including problems in inventory management.
Therefore, there is a need for a novel method and system of determining an amount of material remaining in a spool or roll. The method and system disclosed herein cure the above and other problems of existing techniques and methods.